Nolan Wells had no water in lungs despite drowning finding, lawyer says

Nolan Wells had no water in lungs despite drowning finding, lawyer says

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Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has released new details from a forensic examination of Nolan Wells’ cellphone and the official autopsy, days after a Mississippi grand jury found no evidence of criminal conduct in the 18-year-old college student’s death.

Wells, who was Black, was found dead two days after traveling with a group of mostly white friends to Horn Island for a July 4 party.

His family and attorneys have challenged the grand jury’s findings and called for federal authorities to investigate. They are also demanding the release of the grand jury’s investigative materials and the full official autopsy report.

Crump said Thursday that a forensic examination of Wells’ phone tracked messages and its location from the day before he disappeared until the device was returned to his family.

The grand jury had access to the cellphone evidence, including 282 pages of Snapchat conversations, when it met last week, according to its report and Crump.

“The messaging, as I sa...